Sponsors (7)
The bill strengthens U.S. tools and reporting to disrupt Haitian criminal networks and protect borders while risking broad economic and civil impacts from sweeping definitions and sanctions authority, potential diplomatic and operational harms, and program uncertainty due to a five-year sunset.
U.S. policymakers (Congress, State, Treasury) will receive regular, detailed reporting on Haitian gangs, trafficking routes, illicit firearms flows, and ties to transnational criminal organizations, enabling more targeted sanctions, aid, law-enforcement cooperation, and border interventions to reduce smuggling and violence.
The U.S. can quickly freeze assets and make identified foreign persons inadmissible or ineligible for visas, reducing accused actors' ability to fund harmful activity and limiting their travel to the U.S.
Humanitarian transactions (food, medicine, transport) for Haiti are explicitly exempted, preserving critical aid flows to low-income and vulnerable populations despite sanctions authorities.
Broad and vague definitions (e.g., 'economic elite', 'political elite', 'foreign person', inclusion of foreign branches) risk sweeping in individuals and firms with indirect ties to Haiti, exposing them to sanctions or restrictions and creating significant legal and reputational harm.
Broad blocking and IEEPA authority, plus sanctions, could disrupt lawful commerce, impose heavy compliance costs on U.S. businesses and banks, and generate litigation and enforcement burdens for government agencies.
Public, detailed reporting that names individuals, routes, or networks could strain diplomatic relations with Haitian authorities and risk operational security by tipping off criminal networks, undermining cooperation and enforcement efforts.
Based on analysis of 5 sections of legislative text.
Mandates State Department reports on gang-elite collusion in Haiti and requires the President to impose asset-blocking and visa sanctions on identified foreign persons, with humanitarian exceptions and a five-year sunset.
Introduced May 21, 2025 by Jeanne Shaheen · Last progress May 21, 2025
Requires the State Department to report on links between Haitian criminal gangs and political/economic elites and then directs the President to impose asset-blocking and visa-entry sanctions on foreign persons identified in those reports. The reports must be delivered within 180 days of enactment and annually for five years; the law and its reporting/sanction regime expire five years after enactment.